


Snowy Graves Don't Talk

by FiliKiliRp



Category: overwatch
Genre: Christmas Eve, He misses Gabe, Ignoring the Comics, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Jack Feels, Jack doesn't know Gabe is alive/Reaper, Jack idolized Gabe to the end, Jack visits Gabe's grave every year, Overwatch Trash, Post Overwatch recall, Snow, Soldier has been busy, Talk of revenge, post zurich
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 19:30:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8933998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiliKiliRp/pseuds/FiliKiliRp
Summary: “It’s been almost 6 years now.” Saying it out loud made him feel old, older than what he should have felt, “You’d hate where they buried you.” He laughed bitterly, a small smile on his lips, “I told you, right?” He glanced back at the name, as if it’d speak back to him, “Of course I did.” He sighed resolutely, the small smile fading from his scared lips, “Of course, if I’d been around after Zurich instead of faking my own death and going into hiding, I could have told them to send you back to L.A. with your family instead of letting them put you here.” He took on a vague tone of sarcasm, but his blue eyes only held sadness in them.





	

The cemetery was freezing, a winter wonderland of untouched snow. Snow that was ankle deep and had stuck to the ground, it covered the line of gravestones, slicking them in ice and hiding them from sight. The sky was clear except for the waning crescent moon and bright stars that was out. It was the last quarter moon of the year, giving the snow a gentle glow, making it almost sparkle in its frosted beauty. 

Only one figure out was in the quiet solitude, the vigilante, Soldier 76. He was slowly working his way across the graveyard, through the snow. He moved with sure steps, only leaving his boot prints behind in clear steps. He stopped in front of a single grave stone, buried beneath the snow and ice. It was a simple headstone, not standing out in anyway, just one of many it would seem. 

It shouldn’t have been like that, not for Gabriel Reyes.

There should have had a monument erected in his name. Gabe had been a founding member of Overwatch, he had lead the teams through the Omnic War to victory and peace after that. He had helped build Overwatch into the great fraction it had become known for. For years it had been his strategy and genius that had kept their modge podge team of worldly militants together. He had been their Leader, their Commander and then it had all changed. 

The UN had ripped all of that honor and hard work away from him in a single, rash decision and had give then prestige to Jack Morrison, naming him Overwatch’s First Strike Commander. 

The dashing blonde with a charming smile and beautiful, deep blue eyes.

They had given the shit to Gabe, they’d given him the clean up work, the dirty work that no one wanted. The work that was never meant to be known, the work that kept the peace and let Jack look good in front of the camera’s. It had been a slap in the face to Gabe’s long military service and an even bigger blow to the man’s ego.

Overwatch had been infiltrated, invaded and torn down from within and Gabe had been molded into the bad guy, the antichrist to the Strike Commander.

It wasn’t right.

It never should have come to Zurich, that explosion should never have happened.

Soldier sighed softly as he stopped in front of the singular, nondescript grave stone. He slowly eased the pulse rifle on to the holster along his back and crouched down in the ankle deep snow. The moonlight glinted off the white, grey marble, illuminating the name that had been etched and frosted over, it was hard to make the dark etching out but he knew who it belonged to.

'Gabriel Reyes'

Soldier 76 reached up and quietly pulled the mask and visor off. He ignored the soft hiss of the oxygen lines and blinked a few times to let his poor eyes adjust to the snow and moonlight. Soldier 76 disappeared leaving just Jack in the quiet, snowy cemetery. He shifted to sit down in the snow and rested the visor and mask on top of his bent knee. He reached out and started to gently brush the snow off the plain headstone. 

There should have been more listed, a year for when Gabe had been born and when he’d died. A small endearment to remember him by, something, anything, instead there was just a name, a name that could be forgotten to the tides of time. It was a dishonorable and shameful way for the world to sweep a hero like Gabriel under the rug, to make him disappear and erase him from history.

“Hey..” Jack murmured softly, his voice low and rough with disuse. He tenderly traced his gloved fingers over the name that had been etched into the stone, “I’m sorry I’m late this year.” He apologized and shifted in the cold snow. He stretched his longer legs out, bent up at the knees, “You’d laugh, but I’m just not moving the way I should be anymore, too many years behind a desk. I’m getting old.” he admitted as he glanced around to make sure no one was in the cemetery, but there was no one. He was the only one stupid enough to be in a cemetery at midnight on Christmas Eve.

“It’s been almost 6 years now.” Saying it out loud made him feel old, older than what he should have felt, “You’d hate where they buried you.” He laughed bitterly, a small smile on his lips, “I told you, right?” He glanced back at the name, as if it’d speak back to him, “Of course I did.” He sighed resolutely, the small smile fading from his scared lips, “Of course, if I’d been around after Zurich instead of faking my own death and going into hiding, I could have told them to send you back to L.A. with your family instead of letting them put you here.” He took on a vague tone of sarcasm, but his blue eyes only held sadness in them.

Jack gazed at Gabe’s name for a long while, his mind rolling through memory after memory of the two of them, as it usually did when he visited Gabe’s grave site. Almost 30 years of memories he sorted through in what seemed like seconds. Happiness, anger, love, hatred, compassion, tenderness, fear, sadness. So many memories and feelings correlated with this man, and they were only brought on by Gabe.

“I’m sorry.” He murmured quietly, brokenly, “I was a coward, about everything.” He admitted as the feelings of regret started to come back to him in a rush, “I couldn’t talk to you, I couldn’t man up and face what was happening right in front of me. Even though you were right there showing it to me, holding the evidence in my face, I refused to see it.” He felt his eyes start to burn as hot tears started to build, “I’m such an idiot, Gabe, and it got you killed.” He squeezed his eyes closed and two tears fell, one falling down his cheek and getting stuck in the white scruff along his jaw, and the other falling right into the snow.

“It should be me buried here, not you.” He reached up and harshly brushed the tear aside with his gloved hand, “There are so many things I should have done differently, but if I listed them out you’d get pissed.” He rested his temple in his hand, still gazing at the stone. He looked as tired as he felt. Dark circles under his blue eyes, his cheeks chiseled and gaunt from not taking care of himself through the years.

“I can’t apologize enough because at this point it means nothing, doesn’t change anything.” He drew in a deep breath, steadying himself before forcing himself to a small smile, “But,” He paused as if trying to build suspension and anticipation out of his nonexistent presence, “I got you a gift this year, so you better like it. No complaining.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small, black flash drive, the finish barely glinting off of the moonlight, “I got the last of the data files I needed. I can finally trace it all back to who gave the order in Zurich. I can find who ordered your death and finally bring them to justice and avenge you.” He smiled softly as he waved the drive around for a brief moment before he slid it back into his pocket.

“Yea, figured you’d like that.” He sighed and licked his dry lips, just wetting them as the cold air started to get to them, “Merry Christmas, Gabriel.” He reached for his mask and clipped it back into place. Soldier 76 pushed himself up with a grunt, getting his feet back under him again before standing

“Save me a seat down there, Gabi, I’ll be joining you soon.” His voice was gruff and mechanical again from the modulator. He reached for the Pulse Rifle and brought it back around and held it at the ready. He followed his footsteps out of the open yard and back towards the tree cover before he disappeared into the snow covered night.

**Author's Note:**

> Visit my tumblr (a +18 NSFW blog):
> 
> Reaper76r. tumblr . com
> 
> Also go and read Breathe & Exhale - partner written with Baffled Fox.


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